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Morrises mark milestones

Long life, marriage just a blessing

Edith and Randall Morris talk about their life together Monday at their home. The two, who met at a Forsyth County church, were married 70 years ago Wednesday. Also, Randall Morris will celebrate his 90th birthday Saturday.
- photo by Emily Saunders

It’s a milestone week for Randall Morris.

The longtime Forsyth County resident celebrates a 70th wedding anniversary today and turns 90 on Saturday. He said longevity is a matter of divine decision.

“If the good Lord wants you to go, he’ll grab you and take you off,” Morris said. “I’m too good for the devil and too mean for the Lord. I’m just in between ‘em.”

Morris and his wife, Edith, have lived in the county for 36 years. They resided in Alpharetta before that, but it was in Forsyth County that they first met more than seven decades ago.

“We met at church,” she said. “We’ve always went to church.”

The couple first laid eyes on each other at Union Hill Baptist Church in south Forsyth.

“Before we married, the only place we went was church,” she said.

Edith Morris said there wasn’t much else to do in the Alpharetta area at the time.

“There wasn’t anything here. No kind of amusement,” she said. “No theater ... nothing. They had a grocery store, a clothing store and a soda fountain, and one doctor.”

It wasn’t much different when they moved to Forsyth County in the 1970s.

“Forsyth County’s changed a lot since then,” she said. “When we came here, the only grocery store that was up here was ... on the square in Cumming, across from the courthouse.”

But as the county changed, the Morris family held on to its tradition and values. In fact, the couple continued to attend the same church until about five years ago, when the traffic and distance got to be too much.

The couple switched to Fellowship Baptist Church, a little closer to their home on Heardsville Road in northwestern Forsyth. Fellowship Pastor Keith Lee said they are “a fun couple.”

“They’re always nice and cordial,” Lee said. “Randall’s a great guy. He’s hilarious, and Edith is a wonderful lady. She’s always caring and loving and concerned about people in our church. I’ve never heard either one of them ever say a cross word about anybody.”

Lee said the congregation recognized the couple’s anniversary in a service Sunday.

“The strength of their character and the longevity of their marriage is a testament and blessing to the people of this community,” Lee said.

If you ask Randall Morris, “give and take” is the secret to a long and happy marriage.

“But you take more than you give,” he said with a smile.

His wife, 86, said a happy marriage means sharing responsibilities.

“He washes as many dishes as I do,” she said. “And he does the vacuuming and mopping. We just help each other, and we’ve been blessed to have long lives.”

Randall Morris said “staying busy” keeps him strong.

“People say working won’t do you good,” he said. “Working is what keeps me going.”

Most of his working days were spent as a farmer in the field, growing crops and tending cattle. He stays busy these days planting and harvesting collard greens and maintaining their home.

“If you got a place, you got to sort of keep it up,” he said. “I like doing the work. It’s good for you. It keeps you healthy.”

Edith Morris said their longevity in life and marriage is “just a blessing.”

She recalled when the couple first met, she was 16 and he was nearly 20.

“My parents had a fit,” she said.

Their marriage produced two sons, George, 67, and Danny, 59.

Danny Morris is their next-door neighbor and George Morris lives in Colorado. They have three grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

The couple looks forward to hearing from family this week for their anniversary.

Randall Morris said they celebrated Monday, but nothing extravagant. “I got work to do,” he said.